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We want to know what the process was like for you, any difficulties you experienced, the length of your process, etc. This is strictly research and any information you share with us will not be shared elsewhere.
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Dear Community friends and family,
After great consideration, we are moving the Grandparents.com community to Facebook Groups effective March 15, 2018.
This wasn’t an easy decision, but we want to bring our communities together and believe the best place to do so is through Facebook’s groups feature. We’re so appreciative of you and the diverse conversations and opinions you have provided over the past 9 years. Your stories and amazing advice have helped so many readers, and have reached thousands of GP.com users. We encourage you to retrieve any information you want to retain as the forum will only be accessible by the admin after March 15, 2018.
We’ve created a closed Facebook group called Mothers-in-Law Unplugged where we welcome you to continue the conversations around grandparenting, family, and in-law relationships, and any general topics we discuss here. As the group is closed and each user must be approved, your friends and family on Facebook won’t see any of your activity. Request to join the group here: http://bit.ly/milunplugged
Thank you to all of our past and current users. You helped build our community, and we look forward to continuing to interact with you in the Facebook groups. If you have any questions about the groups and privacy, let’s chat about here:
Sincerely,
The Grandparents.com Team

Love Only Grows by Sharing

“Love only grows by sharing. You can only have more for yourself by giving it away to others.” ― Brian Tracy

Today’s blog is possibly the most important that I have written yet.What?If you’ve been following along then you know that I said that the first of grand to GREAT’s five daily actions—MOVE—was possibly the most important.Now here I am with the third, SHARE, and I’m saying this blog is more important?

Well, yes.But only because most everyone already understands and accepts the notion that you have to keep moving as you age, or you risk a lot of health issues not to mention your happiness. Something that people don’t necessarily see as vital to their health and happiness, is the need to spend time with others.Yet, isolation and loneliness not only negatively impact both mental and physical health in seniors, but ‘according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, both social isolation and loneliness are associated with a higher risk of mortality in adults aged 52 and older.’ In a nationally representative sample of 1,604 American elders, 43% of respondents were identified as lonely. The study also proved that those who were identified as feeling lonely, died significantly earlier than those who did not experience loneliness.

As with my other posts, this is another of the things that my father has shown me "how to be" in his own life.He recently made a very long trip from Portland to Victoria, BC to visit his sister.It was her 93rd birthday and she lives in an assisted living community.When there, he went out to buy her a milkshake, which is all she asked for and they spent the time together reminiscing about their childhood days on the farm.It wasn’t an easy trip for him, but he did it because he understands the value of sharing himself and connecting.And as a bonus, it brought joy and sharing to another senior who valued it just as much.

That is why at grand to GREAT, our third daily action is:

SHARE—if you haven’t spent time with other people, do it today. Call your grandchildren or your children or a neighbor. You are invaluable, so share your life with friends and other people in your community.

Here are some ways to share and connect:

Volunteer :Research has shown that for older adults, volunteering can be an important mechanism for meeting new people and extending connections.While there are undoubtedly many social opportunities for older people in which they can interact, volunteering is able to provide a much broader and more diverse network of interactions than other types of social activities.Volunteers make contacts with people on a number of different levels, as they are able to make social ties with other volunteers, any clients they may serve and with the staff of host organizations for which they volunteer (Lee, 2008)

Join an Online Group: Another wonderful innovation of the internet is the ability to connect with people literally all over the world. And you can do it from the comfort of your own home. Facebook is a fantastic place to connect with people and even find old friends and acquaintances. Or try Meetup.com to find local people in your area who share your interests. You can even start your own group on Meetup.

Join a local church:Even if you’ve never been a regular church goer, finding a local church, synagogue or other spiritual organization near you for regular events and a sense of community.

Find interest clubs around you: Local garden clubs, golf courses, tennis clubs, and senior centers. There are local groups in your phone book that are eager to have you join them.

Call a relative or visit your neighbor: Sometimes it is as simple as picking up the phone or walking next door.When you are feeling lonely, even small moments can help.And you never know, you might be providing the same benefit for whoever picks up the phone or answers the door.

Loneliness is not a “normal” part of the aging process. Instead, it is a serious indicator that something important is missing from your life. It’s ok to feel lonely occasionally.

Everyone does. But, when you feel lonely all the time, you need to take steps to get things back on track.

With the grand to GREAT lifestyle, we combat loneliness and isolation by taking easy and sustainable action every day.

3 Comments

RoseRed135 5293

Re: phone calls - Sometimes, the result depends on who you (general) call and when. For example, a parent may call their adult DS or DD only to find they don't pick up/cut the conversation short b/c they're busy. We' often have moms come to this site, complaining that their AC rarely return their calls or answer their emails, etc.

Re: just "walking next door" - Again, I think a certain amount depends on the other person. In this case, IMO, it depends largely on how open your neighbor is to drop-ins. Some people (like me) just aren't into them.

But I get the overall point about the value of socializing.

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RoseRed135 5293

One other thought... Some people are more introverted than others, so may have different needs, IMO, regarding the amount of time they spend w/ others. To my knowledge, "introverts" tend to feel drained by interactions w/ other people, after a while, whereas "extroverts" tend to feel energized by them. As such, to my understanding, introverted or semi-introverted people often need to take some time alone to "refuel," as it were.

I'm not saying that those on the more introverted side don't benefit from social interaction, just as much as others. I'm sure they do. I'm just saying that people might want to space out their social interactions according to their individual needs, if that makes any sense.

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Mame925 4864

As an "ambivert" who is rarely lonely, this doesn't work for everyone. My introvert half is quite content to be in the safe haven of home, inviting people in as I am able and my extrovert half goes out whenever the mood strikes.

GP.com is my only online group...I do work now only part time by choice, days & hours are random as it's sub work for library services of a school district. I choose my assignments carefully as well.